1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to sheet feeders and the like, and is more particularly concerned with a shingle feeder wherein shingling of the sheets is begun prior to actual feeding.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
There are numerous feeders that are intended to feed one sheet at a time from a stack of sheets. Many such feeders are designed for use on printing presses and the like that receive one sheet, process that one sheet, then receive another sheet for processing. The feeder for such a machine therefore can carefully handle each sheet to be fed, and there is time to utilize such techniques as an air blast to separate sheets. Other equipment requires a substantially continuous feed of sheets, for example for collating multiple pieces for mass mailings, or for delivering pieces to a bindery or other equipment that requires a stream of pieces rather than one sheet or piece at a time.
The prior art shingle feeders have been reasonably successful; but, very simple feeders are temperamental and difficult to set up properly, while more reliable feeders are complex and require a good bit of maintenance. Thus, the prior art has not provided an extremely simple shingle feeder that is both easy to use and reliable.